


Double Exposure

by Lucifuge5



Category: Bandom, My Chemical Romance
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon, Bodyswap, M/M, crackfic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-01-22
Updated: 2013-01-22
Packaged: 2017-11-26 10:00:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,515
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/649383
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lucifuge5/pseuds/Lucifuge5
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <em>The worst part was the confession. Well, the explanation sucked too.</em>
</p>
            </blockquote>





	Double Exposure

**Author's Note:**

> Written for prompt 38. Frank/Mikey - Frank and Mikey bodyswap during tour and have to play shows as each other for 2013 no_tags. Also completed the Accidental Marriage square for 2013 Trope Bingo.
> 
> Thank you to Akamine_chan and Andeincascade for beta work. Any remaining mistakes are mine.
> 
> Also available at DW [over here](http://no-tags.dreamwidth.org/10754.html).

Frank woke up to the smell of freshly brewed coffee. Bleary-eyed, he stumbled out of bed and headed to the bathroom, scratching his stomach while yawning. Last night had been pretty wild.

Whether it was the anticipation of the upcoming mini-tour in support of Conventional Weapons or the fact that he and Mikey had finally moved into their new house in L.A., Frank didn't know. Regardless, even though yesterday's practice went on slightly longer than normal, he and Mikey barely made it past the front door before trying to strip down to bare skin.

Mikey's hands were _everywhere_ , sliding down Frank's back and then around his waist, grabbing his ass and pulling Frank even closer. Frank carded his hands through Mikey's still-blond hair, tugging it downwards. He took advantage of Mikey throwing his head back to suck on his pale neck, gliding his tongue over the dark red bruises while Mikey panted for air.

_What a couple of horndogs_ , Frank thought, smiling at the memory of Mikey groaning when he thrusted into Frank once they made it to their bedroom.

Afterwards, Frank had fallen into an uneasy sleep, tossing and turning as he dreamed of labyrinths and tunnels.

Today was the next-to-final rehearsal, making a few calls to pet sitters and starting to figure out what to pack. They were leaving for a month, traveling all across some of the main cities in the U.S. and a few in Europe.

Frank glared at the sudden brightness after flipping the bathroom's light switch, and then did a double-take when he looked at himself in the mirror.

Mikey's face was frowning back at him. _What the fuck?_

* * *

The worst part was the confession. Well, the explanation sucked too.

Even though he kept his voice as soft as possible when he shook Mikey's shoulder, Mikey looked startled when he opened up his eyes. Frank waited him out, nodding after Mikey stared at his (Frank's) hands and then back to Frank and then back to the tattoos.

"Wait, _what_?" Mikey scooted up, his back hitting the headboard. "You. Me. What?"

For the millionth time, Frank pushed down the prickly feeling of wrongness at seeing himself. He sat down on the corner of the bed and licked his lips. Better to get on with the 'fessing up. "You're in my body and I'm in yours, yes." His face grew hot when Mikey didn't respond. "I think I can explain?"

He pulled his legs up and wrapped his arms around them. Still sulking, he closed his eyes and sighed, giving himself a few seconds before speaking again. He bent his head downwards, resting his forehead against Mikey's--HIS-- very bony knees. "I was born on this planet, but my family's not from around here."

"OK," Mikey said from somewhere on his right. Fuck if it wasn't a mind trip to hear the barely-awake raspy tone of his own voice. "How about we start from the beginning?"

Nodding once, Frank raised his head. He studied Mikey, frowning at the straight line of his mouth and the raised eyebrow. Seeing his own face mimicking one of Mikey's most familiar expressions made him shudder. His gaze dropped to the tattoos on his neck. Right about now, he'd be aching to smoke, if only to have something to distract himself.

"All right," he said after the silence pressed down on all sides. "So my great great grandparents sailed over from Italy over a hundred years ago. But, um--"

"But?" Mikey prodded, his voice low and calm.

Frank shrugged. "But they weren't _from_ Italy. Their home was further than that?"

"How far?"

"Think 'light-years' instead of continents," Frank answered. He hated how small his voice sounded. It'd been so long since he'd even thought about any of this.

Mikey whistled.

"Yeah," Frank said. "Anyway, they, you know, _adapted_ to life on Planet Earth. And their kids grew up, got married to humans and life went on..."

"So, you've always known you're an alien?" Mikey sounded more curious than shocked and Frank was, once again, infinitely grateful at the Ways' inherent nerdiness. Anyone else would've been freaked out by now.

"Um, part-alien, actually. And, yes, my parents told me about the _Vtapkj_ side of the family tree early on. I think they were afraid I was going to fucking manifest a tail or something."

"You have a tail?" Mikey's eyebrows jumped up. "Fuck. I mean, that's cool, if you, like, have one."

"Some _Vtapkj_ races have tails. Thing is, I don't know if I do have one. Earth's gravity keeps my alien side kinda dormant. I mean, for the most part."

"Huh." Mikey cracked his knuckles. "OK. Aside from the fact that you're the punk version of Starman--"

Frank cleared his throat. "Not Starman. That's too fucking wimpy. I'd say Han Solo or, like, at least a cool Jedi or some shit."

"Fine! Be Boba Fett. It doesn't--that doesn't matter!" Mikey flapped his hands. "What I want to know is what does you being part-spaceman has to do with this?" He pointed at himself then at Frank.

"Oh, that." Frank made an apologetic face. "I think it's part of a wedding ritual?"

"We're _married_? What . . . how? I--I'm sorry. I have to talk to Gee!" Mikey got up at once, snatching his phone from the dresser on his way out of the bedroom.

So much for not freaking out. Frank looked on as Mikey ran off. He debated running after him, choosing to stay put when he heard pieces of Mikey's rambling to Gerard from somewhere in the living room. He exhaled before picking up his phone and texting **Emergency band meeting @F &M's ASAP** to Ray. Gauging by Mikey already talking to Gerard and the text he sent out, Frank had just enough time to call his mom and tell her the good news.

* * *

Twenty minutes later, he was sitting on the living room sofa, facing Ray and Gerard and doing his best impersonation of John McClane. He could keep his cool.

"Here," Mikey said as he handed him a cup of coffee.

"Thanks." Frank smiled at him. He took a sip, enjoying the bitterness of the dark roast. He felt lighter. As peace offerings went, this one was great.

Gerard rested his elbows on the top of his thighs and leaned forward, staring at Frank like he was waiting for something weird to happen. "So, Mi--I mean, _Frank_. Switching bodies? What's up with that? Why now? Are you really an alien? Why keep it a secret? Like, I understand the _X-Files_ thing but, dude, we've known you since forever and now is when you tell us?" 

Ray just gave him a stern look.

Frank gulped down the rest of the coffee and then placed the empty cup on the floor. "Whoa, whoa!" he said, putting his hands up in the universal gesture for 'time out'. He glanced over at Mikey, then lowered his hands. "When I was a kid, my Nonna used to tell me stories about _Vtapkj_ that her parents had told her. A lot of it sounded like fairy tales."

"Anyway, one of the stories was about this prince and a princess who fell in love. Their families had been stuck in a bitter feud for generations. The prince and the princess heard that their families were going to separate them forever and they switched souls. True love triumphed. Whatever. My memory's fuzzy about the rest of the story. My point is that it became a traditional way of getting hitched."

Ray raised an eyebrow. "Huh, so you and Mikey are this generation's intergalactic equivalent of Romeo and Juliet."

"Minus the dying, sure," Frank deadpanned. "Listen, I didn't think my Nonna's tales were real. Like, she told me that milk was actually a vengeful spirit that would eat my insides?" He shrugged. " _Vtapkjanese_ are lactose-intolerant. I didn't . . . well, I didn't say anything about this because it doesn't change anything about who I am. It's not as if I'm going to take Mikey to my secret spaceship and, like, travel all 23 million light-years to my home planet. Which, for the record, it's only my 'home planet' in name only since I was born here like all of you!" He curled his hands into tight fists, eyes focused on Gerard's ultra-white Nikes, while he searched for that early bit of McClane-like Zen and coming up short.

"Fuck, you're totally Kal-El!" Gerard announced, obviously warming up to Frank's words. "Can you _fly_?"

"Gerard! Don't be rude!" Mikey's tone making it clear that his older brother was about to step over the line.

Much as he wanted to indulge himself in his own half-alien pity party, Frank couldn't help snorting at his friend's enthusiasm. "No, you fucker, I can't fly or leap over tall buildings, stop bullets with my chest, own a magic lasso or have an index finger that lights up. None of that shit. I don't have any super-powers. Maybe extra-stamina and that's neither here nor there." He shook his head, imagining Gerard's shoulders slumping.

"At least you're not Alf," Ray said, breaking the remaining tension.

"Or the Great Gazoo," Mikey added as he placed a hand on Frank's shoulder. "I mean, you _are_ short but--oof!"

Frank elbowed him softly. He rolled his eyes, taking a hold of Mikey's hand and kissing the back of it. "I'm sorry for not telling you. It's been a non-issue for me all my life. I never thought it'd ever come up."

Mikey scooted closer, snaking his arm across Frank's upper back and pulling him close in one smooth move. "I know, Frankie," he said, kissing the top of Frank's head. "Though I never thought I'd have to become you in order for us to get married. You gotta admit that's fucking weird."

"I guess," Frank answered, the wave of anxiety he'd been riding since he'd woken up fading away at last.

Ray cleared his throat. "Um, as sweet as it is to see you guys all lovey-dovey, I do have to remind you that we're due to go on tour in five days. Frank, how long is this body switcheroo gonna last?"

"My mom says that everything goes back to normal on its own. Will probably happen when we're sleeping." Frank grimaced inwardly since that wasn't much of an answer.

"Right," Ray mulled. "But did she give you an ETA?"

Frank turned his head toward Mikey's chest, purposely mumbling against it.

"What was that?"

"I said 'everything will be back to normal anywhere between one and three weeks." He closed his eyes, readying himself for Ray and possibly Gerard's dual shrieks.

Mikey hmmed. "Maybe we can postpone the tour? Announce that we have extraordinary circumstances?"

"And tell them what exactly, Mikes? I don't think switching bodies is the kind of thing that's easily explainable," Gerard sounded defeated.

"I've got an idea," Ray said tentatively. "Not an especially great one but I think we can make it work."

Frank opened up his eyes. He cuddled a little more against Mikey. "Work it how?"

"Easy: Frank, you already know how to play bass and I think that Mikey would only need a little practice--"

"Wait, what?"

"Ray, that's a really great idea!" Gerard sounded a little too happy about this. "What do you think, Mikey?"

"It'd mean extra-practice but, well, Frank said the switch can fade away like two days into the tour. Sure, let's do this." He leaned down and whispered "I believe in us" in Frank's ear.

Frank huffed in reply.

* * *

During the next five days, 'extra-practice' became a codeword for 'roleplay as each other'.

In some ways, it was hot. Frank knew how flexible he was and Mikey was all for trying out some freaky positions in bed. Narcissistic as it might sound, Frank liked seeing the way his skin flushed when he touched Mikey, admiring all the ink he'd gotten through the years. Mikey's half-purr about how 'hot' Frank looked would've sounded funny or awkward. The funny thing was that Frank could _feel_ Mikey was talking both to Frank as well as about his own face.

He'd always known that Mikey was a fucking tall guy. After almost five years of being together, Frank had had his share of climbing on Mikey, wrapping his legs around Mikey's thin waist while Mikey held him and they grunt-fucked against a wall, the side of a van and, in one memorable occasion, an airplane bathroom in first class during a flight to Berlin.

But, it was one thing to admire his boyfriend's--now _husband's_ \--long legs and quite another to walk around in Mikey's body.

The lack of tattoos, except for Mikey's heart on fire ode to bad tattoo decisions everywhere, was a the strongest reminder of what had happened. By day two, Frank decided to stop thinking about it and just enjoying the ride.

Picking up the bass guitar with the intention of playing MCR songs on it was a little weird. Conventional Weapons was a really bass-heavy album. Having to concentrate on learning the chords for "Gun." and "Kiss the Ring" helped him ease into pretending to be Mikey in public. If Jarrod or anyone else other than Mikey, Ray or Gerard noticed anything weird during the last rehearsals, they kept it to themselves.

Mikey struggled with "Make Room!!!" and "I'm Not OK". Ray proved himself to be the best guitar teacher in the entire universe by sitting down with Mikey and going over all of Frank's parts as many times as it was necessary.

Frank looked on as Mikey frowned during the bridge in "Boy Division" until he was able to play it without tripping up. Later that night, he showed Mikey how happy he was by dropping to his knees and unzipping Mikey's jeans, pulling them down. He tilted his face up, giving Mikey a dirty smile as he started to suck his hardening cock.

* * *

Opening night at the Roseland was nerve-wracking for everyone. Gerard warmed up by doing his weird scales; Jarrod and Dewees chatted up with the sound techs, giving the band enough space to get ready; Ray had Mikey go through the set list, giving Mikey a few last-minute pointers on how to tackle "AMBULANCE". Frank had gone out for a long run, burning off as much excessive energy as he could. NYC's honking taxis and general city noise calmed him down as he pounded the pavement.

Being anonymous while running was something Frank could do.

Three hours later, they were getting their cue to go onstage. Frank jumped up and down, loosening his body a little. It was strange not to do his usual yoga session before the show. But then, he wasn't going to be onstage as himself, doing pretzel-like bends and humping his Phant-o-matic against the floor or one of the amps.

Mikey squeezed his hand once as they walked into the hallway that led to the stage. Frank winked back. The roar of the crowd, their excitement and cheering sparked up a sense of destiny, of belonging.

They were ready.

The End


End file.
